Behind Cueto, Latos, Leake, Bailey, Arroyo, and Chapman (a huge wild card), the Reds don't have many advanced pitching prospects who can provide depth. Sam Lecure, Matt Klinker, and Sean Gallagher may well be the next three guys on the depth chart. That's not a very exciting group.
Francis has had a couple decent years in the past and could be cheap insurance if he'll take a minor league deal. I wouldn't bother getting worked up over it. If he signs, it'll be purely a depth move.
Absolutely disagree! Janish is a valuable asset. I want him on the roster to make game saving defensive plays in the late innings. Frazier hasn't shown enough ability to hit at this level to award him the 25th spot. Keep him in Lou until an outfielder or infielder gets hurt.
MLBTR reports that ex-Red Edgar Renteria may land in Tampa.The Rays reportedly have interest in Edgar Renteria for a bench spot.
Looks like the Reds have traded for Wilson Valdez (MLBTR). Is he any better than Janish? His stats are not impressive.
janish plays 4 spots including mop up duty, Frazier on the other hand played 6 positions(1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF,RF), 7 counting DHing on off days, last season in louisville and at all times he has 6 gloves in his locker. I see frazier as more versital than janish as well as having a better bat while i will give janish an edge with the glove.
Well, the thing about these trade rumors is that they are just that, rumors,
some of which make sense and some of which sound rather far-fetched.
The Pirates are said to be dangling pitchers such as Mark Redman, Kip Wells,
Josh Fogg and Ian Snell as trade bait and are looking for help at 3B, LF and RF.
So naturally, rumors will fly - the Reds would seem to have a spare outfielder
or two to deal, and are in need of pitching help. DanO has come right out and
said he's willing to deal with a team in the Reds' division, but are the other
teams in the division willing to deal with division rivals?
Another rumor has Kearns or Pena going to the Cardinals - but I don't see the
Cardinals trading away pitching after their pursuit of A.J. Burnett - they seem
to be looking to add a starter, not deal one. And again, are the Cardinals
willing to deal with another team in their own division, even if the Reds are?
One statement DanO made that I found interesting was this:
"I don't think you can focus on the outfield situation, because at this point
there are a number of different avenues with our position players that are
available to us," O'Brien said. "It's basically a matter of looking at what
would bring us the best possible package of talent in return. Whether or not
that involves an outfielder remains to be seen. ... Sometimes you've got to have
flexibility in considering moving people around the diamond to different
positions."
Once again from MLBTR:
Hell just might freeze over if this happens.Reds GM Walt Jocketty said he hopes to lock Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips up long-term, even though doing so would require major commitments, MLB.com youth correspondent Meggie Zahneis reports. "Everyone has to understand that these are expensive deals and there is only so much we can do," Jocketty said. An extension for Votto would likely require one of the largest deals in MLB history.
MLBTR.Scott Kazmir intends to pitch in 2012, but his fastball velocity is in the 84-85 mph range. The 28-year-old appeared in one game for the Angels last year and they released him after a rough stretch at Triple-A.
Might want to cross Scott Kazmir and his mid-80s fastball off the list.
My best estimate has the Reds almost $2M in payroll above where they were last season. A $5M increase over 2011 gives the Reds about $3M left to work with. Based on how much of Ryan Madson's contract counts toward the 2012 budget, they could have several million more. It's still probably not enough to sign Roy Oswalt without clearing out a little salary by trade.
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